The Shard conspiracy
by Xyrer
Summary: Squall and co. go to investigate a mysterious occurence, and get drawn deeper into a web of intrigue and deadly intentions that they may never free themselves from. (Chapter 5 up!)
1. The Mission

"And that's 8-2 to me! I'll take that Diablos card, if you don't mind." Zell Dincht's loud voice rang through the cafeteria of Balamb Garden. He'd just won a game of Triple Triad against a student, who sauntered off muttering something along the lines of "my best card". Selphie Tilmitt sat nearby. "You're shameless Zell, picking on a kid."

Zell sat back and shrugged. "Hey! He had a card I wanted. Gotta keep your eyes on the prize." He held up the card and turned it this way and that, fancying that he could see the picture moving slightly. "Now my GF deck is almost complete." He laughed.

Selphie rolled her eyes and turned back to Irvine Kinneas, who was sat in his usual posture nearby, his cowboy hat pulled down low over his eyes, striving to maintain the image of laid-back confidence he tried so hard to achieve.

Irvine's status was in question at the moment. Technically he was still enrolled in Galbadia Garden as a sniper, but hadn't returned there since the end of the Sorceress crisis of two months ago. Currently, he was living in a hotel in Balamb, coming to the Garden to see his comrades virtually every day. There were rumours afloat of him seeking a transfer or even applying to become an instructor in advanced firearm use.

Balamb garden had resettled in its original position and reconstruction and even extension work was well underway, during this time of peace. Squall, now slightly more relaxed with Rinoa at his side was doing a fine job as Garden commander, in charge of all military aspects of the Garden. Cid and Edea Kramer, in the meanwhile, took care of administrative work and ran things while Squall was away with SeeD.

Quistis had successfully fallen back into her former position as instructor of political structure and magic 101. Still, as a SeeD, she was on call at a moment's notice to go on missions and so, she was only really teaching the senior students, who could be relied upon to study the material if the lesson had to be finished prematurely

Irvine yawned lazily and stretched out, allowing his arm to fall around Selphie's shoulders, who giggled and rolled her eyes at Zell.

The telltale "bing-bong" of the Garden's public address system sounded throughout the cafeteria, followed by Garden secretary Xu's voice. "Would the following SeeD agents report to the control room, immediately. Dincht, Zell. Tilmitt, Selphie. Trepe, Quistis. Also, would the following people please report to the main office as well. Heartilly, Rinoa. Kinneas, Irvine. That is all."

Zell swung around and got up off the chair, obviously tensed for action, and ran from the cafeteria. Selphie and Irvine followed on, walking normally, Irvine showing just a hint of reluctance.

Eventually the three SeeD agents as well as Rinoa and Irvine were assembled in the cool, spacious control room on the third floor of the Garden. Cid and Edea stood off to one side, with Xu and Squall Leonheart, who was looking uncomfortable being in a position of authority as usual.

Squall's cool monotone voice was raised to the point that everyone could hear without his shouting.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly." Squall looked at each of his friends in turn, letting his eyes linger on Rinoa for a moment. "For the first time in two months, SeeD has been offered an assignment. I now hand over to Xu, who will brief us on our mission."

On cue Xu stepped forward, a clipboard holding the mission specifications in her arms. "It seems that the village of Winhill in Galbadia is suffering a sharp increase in the number of monsters that inhabit the area. Usually the only problems they have are the annoyances of Bite Bugs and Caterchipillars but recently reports of ruby dragons, behemoths, elnoyles and many more have been sighted and have nearly decimated the populace. It is believed that the Galbadian government has severed all ties with the town and is refusing to help with evacuation.

Your mission is to aid the populace in their evacuation and to investigate the source of the recent influx of monsters."

There was a moment's silence and then as one, the team looked to Squall, who nodded. "We accept."

Xu smiled. "Right. Commander Squall, I leave it to you to arrange logistics and inventory."

Squall nodded. "Ok. We leave at 2300 hours tonight. If we approach under cover of darkness, then the Ragnarok shouldn't be noticed. Meet at the docking bay. It's 1300 hours now, so I recommend getting your gear together, ensuring that you have enough items to keep you going if things get rough and getting your heads down. This could be the last opportunity for a decent night's sleep for a while. And don't forget to junction your GFs. Any questions?" No hands were raised. "Good. Fall out."


	2. Dragons and Ruins

At 2300 hours that night, the SeeD team showed up tired, but ready. The scarlet hull of the Ragnarok airship loomed over them, its massive dragonlike shape pointing out of the bay towards the dark night sky dotted with stars. A lot of equipment had been offloaded so that more of the survivors of Winhill could be transported at one time.

Selphie sank into the pilot's chair, her hands grasping the wheel. Clearly excited, she began to run through the take-off procedures, ticking them off on the electronic list close to hand. "Cargo loaded... doors sealed... passengers secured... fully fuelled... docking clamps released... bay doors open... runway clear... blast shield up... Ok! We're all set! She flicked several switches and pressed the ignition button.

Outside, the engines of the Ragnarok flared into life and a low whine, building in intensity, came into hearing. The airship moved up a couple of feet and hovered for a moment before flying at dizzying speed down the runway and out of Balamb Garden's docking bay doors.

As the Ragnarok flew high over the oceans, Rinoa found herself absently watching a couple of dolphins playing amongst the waves. Squall sauntered over and sat down next to her, gingerly resting a hand on hers. He still wasn't comfortable being tender and showing his affection. _But_, he thought, _I should try. For her._

"What's the matter?"

Rinoa looked over to him into his deep brown eyes. "Oh... I don't know. I guess because it's only been two months since Ultimecia... It just sort of seems too soon to go back into battle."

Squall didn't know quite how he should respond. "We're SeeDs. It's our job."

Rinoa sighed and then smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

Just then, Quistis came over. "Winhill is coming into visual range. I really think you should see this, Squall."

Squall pulled his hand away reluctantly and stood, walking over to the front of the cockpit where his mouth fell open in shock.

Even though the Ragnarok was still quite a distance from the town, Squall could see that barely a building had been left standing. Several black plumes of smoke curled upwards from smouldering remains of buildings. A black cloud seemed to hang over the once sunny town. The shapes of some of the larger monsters could be seen stalking through wreckage. _How many people have been killed already?_ Squall found himself thinking._ And what are the chances of finding any survivors?_

"Squall! We have three ruby dragons at 2 o'clock! 400 metres and closing! Any ideas?" Selphie's voice was urgent, interrupting Squall's thoughts.

"On my command, climb upward 40 metres. Wait for it... Now!"

Selphie's reflexes and the advanced systems of the Ragnarok caused the ship to arc sharply upwards, with the result of the aerial monsters flying straight underneath.

"Now..." Squall could hear a hint of excitement creeping into his voice. "Initiate multiple lock-on to all three targets and launch three Blizzaga Torpedoes at the targets."

Selphie followed orders and flicked several switches. On the radar screen, the three red lights representing the Ruby dragons were highlighted with yellow cross-hairs indicating successful lock-on.

Squall gave the order. "Fire!"

The three torpedoes, glowing blue-green with magical energy shot out of the torpedo tubes and headed straight for their targets, which were still struggling to turn. Off in the distance, there were ear-splitting shrieks as two of the torpedoes found their marks and the dead dragons began to fall earthwards. The third, however narrowly missed as the dragon, nimbly performed a loop and flew straight at the Ragnarok, howling terribly.

"Squall, it's headed right for us! Now what?"

"Ready frontal machine cannon... fire!"

The dragon exploded in a hail of gunfire from near the front of the ship.

"Booooom! Yeah!" Selphie exclaimed.

"That's my girl." Irvine planted his hat on Selphie's head, who smiled.

"Errgh...." The entire team turned to look at Zell, who had been sick at the back of the cockpit. "I wish you guys would warn me when you're gonna do that acrobatic stuff..."

The Ragnarok set down just a short way out of town.

"Right. We need to divide the team into two parties. Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine. You guys stay here. Defend the ship and aid the people we bring back. Quistis, Zell and myself will head into the town and begin looking for and rescuing the survivors. Is everyone junctioned? Right, we're going."

"Be careful Squall, for Hyne's sake." Rinoa called after him.

"Is it possible that we're gonna find anyone at all alive?" Quistis was tightening her grip around her coiled Save The Queen chain whip, as she always did when she was nervous.

"I really don't know." Squall was cautiously advancing, the Lionheart gunblade at the ready. _I'd prefer it if we didn't have to fight anything._ He thought. _I'd prefer it if we could get even one person out safely._

They became aware of a low growl nearby, behind a cracked and burnt wall. Zell snapped to and dropped into a defensive position, the polished knuckles of his Ehrgeiz fighting gloves glinting faintly in the dim light. A brown dog dashed out from behind the wall, stopping just before the party, where it lowered its head and growled as threateningly as it could under the circumstances.

Quistis visibly relaxed. "It's just a dog. It must have somehow survived the destruction of the city."

"I-is someone there?"

Squall instantly brought the Lionheart up, it's blue blade glowing.

A small voice once again called from a small house nearby, somehow left standing under the onslaught of monsters. Its door was blocked by another collapsed piece of masonry.

Squall found his voice eventually. "Yes." He said, trying to sound comforting while still remaining professional. "We're SeeDs from Balamb Garden. We're here to rescue you."

The voice spoke again after a short pause. "Is Puppy all right?"

Squall looked at the dog, which was now scratching at the rubble, seemingly trying to rescue the little voice.

"Yes." Squall said. "We're going to try and get you out, and then we'll get you to our ship for safety."

Zell took this as his cue and immediately began to pick up great chunks of brick and hurl them away from the door. Quistis and Squall followed suit. Eventually, the rubble was cleared and a badly damaged doorway to the building was accessible.

Squall trod cautiously into the building. Someone stepped out of the shadows.


	3. Jenny

It was a little girl, with her blond hair in pigtails, wearing a pair of blue denim dungarees over a white T-shirt. A red bandanna was tied around her neck.

The dog bounded over to the girl and jumped up at her, putting its paws on her shoulders and licking her. She giggled and pushed the dog away before turning to Squall and peering at him with big green eyes. "Are you here to rescue me?"

Quistis walked over, making sure to put away her whip first. "Yes, just come with us, okay?"

"Mommy said never to go with strangers."

"Where is mommy?"

"I dunno. She hasn't come back yet."

__

Oh no. Her mother's missing. Thought Squall. _I was hoping not to have to deal with this kind of thing._

"Quistis?" He said.

"Yes, Squall?"

"Do you have Diablos junctioned?"

"Yes."

"Good, switch on Enc-none and take the girl and head back to the Ragnarok. Zell and I will continue to search this area till you get back. Enc-none won't get rid of the monsters, but it'll at least repel them until you get back to us."

"Right." Quistis turned to the little girl. "What's your name, honey?"

"Jenny."

"Ok, Jenny. You and Puppy have to come with me. Squall and Zell are going to find your mommy and bring her to our ship." She extended her hand.

Jenny regarded Quistis suspiciously for a second and then smiled and took the offered hand.

"'Kay."

When Quistis came back, an elnoyle had descended upon Squall and Zell, and was attempting to kill Zell with its sweeping claws and massive, darting stinger. Zell, obviously having the time of his life, was bobbing and weaving and practically dancing around the flying monster. Squall, in the meantime, was biding his time and firing off shots from his gunblade to keep the elnoyle off balance. Finally Zell decided to put the beast out of its misery. Stopping and crouching slightly, he brought his hands back, as a piercing yellow glow enveloped them. He leaped high into the air, his entire body now glowing with concentrated energy. There was a brief pause, as everything seemed to stop in time. Then Zell, with seemingly impossible speed, flew forward fists outstretched "METEOR BARRET!" He yelled. The blond fighter shot through the body of the elnoyle and landed the other side. The monster let out a hideous roar of pain and fell to the ground, a gaping hole through its chest.

Zell, in his victory dance, punched the air a few times before bowing slightly.

Quistis ran over. "Is everyone okay? Sorry I didn't make it back sooner."

Squall wasn't listening. _ This is far worse than I expected. I've never seen monsters act quite like this. Dragons that attack ships, monsters that actually seem to actively search out humans and kill them. This is insane. We found one girl, but the monster attacks are becoming ever more frequent. How long can we remain here before we're forced to pull out?_

Squall was roughly shoved into cover by Zell. "Hyne!" Zell hissed. "Would you keep your head out of the clouds for one minute, Squall?" Quistis was on the other side of where Squall was lying. "Look, Squall. Over there, by that church."

Squall looked. By where some stained glass from a broken window lay, stood a man in a white trenchcoat. He was leaning on a powerful looking gunblade like it was a cane. His shoe brushed some of the glass aside, and he was alert, apparently looking for something. On either side of him stood a tall, dark-skinned man, and a girl with grey hair and an eyepatch.

__

Seifer! And Raijin and Fujin! What are they doing here? If they're responsible for this...

Squall's hand tightened around his gunblade and his muscles tensed, ready to leap the rubble and behead Seifer in one blow. Just then, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Quistis whispered into his ear. "Don't let that anger get the better of you. Let's wait and see what he does."

"Hey." Whispered Zell. "What's he saying?"

"I don't know." Replied Squall. "I can't hear."

Raijin turned to Seifer, who was still critically scanning the ground in front of him. "Yo, Seifer! We ain't found any clues over by the item shop." The youth's usually loud voice was lowered, like he was trying not to attract attention.

"ANNOYED." Fujin's harsh, rasping voice was also low.

"Hmph." Seifer brought up the Hyperion up and rested it casually on his shoulder. "I'm beginning to get fed up now. All we've done is kill monsters so far and there hasn't been any clue as to what caused the monsters to attack Winhill. I'm beginning to think that this job we got from that Loire clown is a dud."

"GO HOME?"

"Nah. To be honest, I'm not that bothered about the money for this job anymore. I'm curious myself now. I wanna find out what's going on in this place. It's always so quiet here. C'mon."

The trio headed off towards the fields in the direction of the mansion in the town centre.

"Hey Quistis, could you catch any of that exchange?" Zell asked.

"No. But, I wonder if they do have something to do with this disaster."

"We should follow them." Squall rose and began to tread cautiously over in the direction in which Seifer's posse had gone.

"Wait, Squall." Quistis went to catch up with him. "We can't ignore the mission at hand. We need to keep searching. Anyway Seifer, if he does indeed have anything to do with this, will probably turn up again. Then we can stop him, okay?"

Squall sheathed the Lionheart. "Whatever."

Just then, Squall's communicator rang. It was Selphie speaking when he answered.

"Squall, the Ragnarok's scanners have just picked a group of Galbadian army aircraft landed nearby in the hills. They don't appear to have spotted us yet. Orders?"

__

Galbadia? What are they doing here? Could it be that they're responsible? After all such an influx of monsters into a town, even Winhill, seems unnatural. But still, why would they attack parts of their own country?

"Right, leave the girl in the ship and switch the cloak and reflect shield defence programs on. It might be better if one of you stays behind to look after her. Proceed to where you saw the planes and try to gain some reconnaissance of their organisation, numbers, equipment, morale, etc. Do not engage. If you find anything, wait until you get back to the Ragnarok before you radio it in. Understand?"

"Understood, Squall. Bye!"


	4. Investigations

"Well, what did he say?" Irvine asked.

"He said for two of us to investigate the area while one stays behind to look after Jenny. Oh, and not to engage whatever we do." Replied Selphie.

Rinoa walked in, holding Jenny's hand. They'd just been for a tour of the ship to take the little girl's mind off the disappearance of her parents and friends. The puppy and Angelo, Rinoa's dog, followed close behind.

"Hey guys." Rinoa pushed the hair away from her face. "What's up?"

"We gotta go and investigate those ships." Selphie explained. "But, one of us has to stay behind. Do you wanna do it?"

Rinoa folded her arms in a fake pout. "Ok, I guess. Just be careful, you guys."

The ship's airlock hissed open and Irvine, his hat pulled low and his shotgun slung casually over his shoulder, swaggered down the ramp, followed by Selphie, who was clutching the Strange Vision nunchaku, alert with a small smile of anticipation on her face. "I reckon we head south-east through that nearby forest and use that as cover until we can get up to the hills, then we climb up and cross over to get a high vantage point of their camp." Irvine's eyes were scanning the countryside.

Selphie nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Seifer kicked a door, already hanging on its last hinges, open and entered the small cafe. An imp that was greedily snacking on some biscuits in a jar noticed him, quickly cast a blind spell and shuffled backwards out of a window as quickly as possible. Seifer side-stepped the spell easily and it went on to hit Raijin in the face, who staggered back, a black cloud engulfing his head.

"Aww dammit!" Raijin tried in vain to get rid of the spell by waving his hands in front of his face in an attempt to sweep it away from him.

"IDIOT." Fujin kicked him in the shin hard and threw a remedy at him. The dark shroud around Raijin's head dissolved, leaving him hopping around and clutching his leg in pain.

Seifer laughed and then composed himself. "Stop clowning around. Keep your mind on this job... hey, what's that?"

A glinting object underneath a scratched table caught Seifer's eye. He crouched down and picked it up. Turning it this way and that briefly, a wide grin crossed his face.

"A-ha!" He showed them the object. "Look at this! It's a Galbadian infantry ID badge. You know what this means?"

"Yeah. Someone who used to live in this town was in the Galbadian Army, ya know!"

Fujin's boot found Raijin's other shin this time, this time causing the large man to fall over.

"No, you idiot." Seifer shook his head. "This means that the Galbadians were here."

"COINCIDENCE."

"Maybe. But still, any lead's better than no lead."

Squall was getting tired and could feel his concentration slipping.

"I'm beginning to think we're never gonna find anyone else." Zell was getting frustrated and therefore careless. An attack by a Bomb had already left him with a nasty burn on his forearm, which he was now applying a potion to.

"We have to keep looking." Quistis was also feeling the strain. Twin streaks of tears marked her face. they were standing over the corpse of an old man, who had been killed clutching a tattered photo of what was obviously his wife, an old sword lying in his other hands showed that he had not gone without a fight. "It's our job."

__

It can't be an utter annihilation. Jenny can't be the only survivor. Squall was feeling ill.

"Listen." He said. "We will do one more sweep of the town, checking every inch of every house. If we can't find any more people this time, we will evacuate."

"Squall!" Quistis' head snapped round to stare at him.

Zell's fists clenched tighter. "We can't leave here!"

"We have no choice!" Squall snapped. "If we stay here much longer we are dead, do you understand me?"

Zell's head dropped and so did his fists. "Yeah... you're right."

Quistis still had tears trickling down her face. "Okay. Let's go."

A Torama chose that moment to pounce from its perch straight at Quistis.

"Quistis, look out!" Squall went to fire at the leaping beast, but the shot merely skimmed its tail and it continued its deadly trajectory, its teeth aimed for the female SeeD's throat. Time seemed to slow. A glow spread around Quistis' feet, glowing ever brighter in intensity. She brought her hands back and pushed them forward, a massive flashing yellow light just in front of them. All the background seemed to fade away and a huge dark hole suddenly appeared underneath the obviously surprised Torama. An enraged scream escaped its jaws as it was pulled into a dark abyss, a scream that was cut off abruptly as the hole shrank into nothingness.

"Degenerator..." Zell's mouth hung open. He'd seen Quistis' unique Blue Magic skills time after time but still he was astounded by that particular technique.

__

Quistis must be ready to break down. She hates to use that spell. She doesn't think that the monsters die when they get caught in that hole. She thinks they just float in nothingness forever. I should have brought someone else.

Squall stood back a little way, unsure of what he could do, if anything. Zell on the other hand walked over and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It was just an automatic reaction..." Quistis was now crying, her hands covering her face.

"I know, Quisty." Zell said, trying to make her feel better. Quistis looked up at him at the mention of her childhood nickname. "But it was you or him. Do you think that the mission could succeed if you were killed? You did what was best."

Quistis smiled at him and wiped away her tears. "Yeah... Thanks, Zell."

"We have to go." Squall had approached. Quistis squared her shoulders and held her head up high.

"Yes. Let's."

An arm snaked around Selphie's shoulders as she crawled low over towards the ledge where she could get a good view of the ground below.

"C'mon, Irvine! Quit it!" She hissed. "We have a job to do."

Irvine put on a fake pout, similar to Rinoa's, but withdrew his arm anyway.

"Just what are they doing down there?" Selphie squinted at the sight that lay before her, in a small gully, surrounded by hills, including the one on which the two SeeDs were currently perched. Below were four Galbadian troop transports and two of the bulky Galbadian cargo ships. They had landed in a circle, enclosing a small area from view. Blue-clad soldiers and Red-clad elites bustled around, either carrying various tools and items or patrolling with swords and guns. In the centre of the area, several soldiers were in a circle, surrounding some sort of object that Selphie couldn't quite make out.

"Hey, Irvine. Have you got the binoculars?"

"I thought you brought them."

"What? Where could I put them in this dress?"

"I dunno. When I look at that dress, I don't tend to focus on the pockets."

"Stop being a perv!" Selphie's voice rose in a squeal.

"Hey, hey! Chill." Irvine waved his hands in an attempt to calm her down. "I've got my scope for the Exeter in my pocket. We can use that."

He fumbled in his coat pocket for the scope and produced it before Selphie snatched it and put it to her eye.

Her vision magnified by the scope, Selphie could see what the object was that was so well guarded. It looked vaguely pyramid shaped, with several switches and buttons on it. In the top was mounted a large shard of blue-white translucent crystal. Around The object had yellow spikes stabbing into the ground from each corner of the base. These spikes turned into pipes that ran up the edges of the black metal pyramid and into the sides of the mysterious crystal.

"What _is_ that? I need to get a closer look..." Selphie was about to move closer to the edge of the outcrop when Irvine's hand grabbed the material of the back or her dress and pulled her back.

"No, Selphie we can't." Irvine whispered. "Squall said to return to the ship and not to engage."

"Damn. Ok. Let's go."

All of a sudden, a new voice barked out behind them. "Freeze! Stay very still and put your hands on your head!"


	5. Shackled

Meanwhile, Seifer concentrated and a large spike of ice thrust up and through the body of the colossal purple beast known worldwide as a behemoth. With barely a whimper, it collapsed sideways and fell to the ground.

"Aww Seifer!" Raijin used his staff as a crook to support his not inconsiderable weight, his bottom lip stuck out in a childish expression of disappointment. "I wanted to card that beast, ya know?"

"Dammit, Shut up!" Seifer whirled on Raijin, a fierce grimace on his face. "You've been bitching this entire time and if I may be quite honest, it's beginning to grate, _ya know_!? So stop acting like such a damn baby!"

Raijin's bottom lip shot back in like a cash register drawer. They had been treading through rubble outside the old pub near Winhill Mansion. "Hey, where's Fujin?" Raijin shielded his eyes from the glare of the high noon sun and then pointed. Fujin had trod carefully over to a pile of rubble, and was stood on it as steadily as if she were on solid ground, looking out to the hills.

"SHINY." She rasped.

"What?" Seifer approached and strained to see whatever it was she was seeing. "I can't see anything."

Fujin pointed at what she was looking at. "THERE."

Seifer followed her finger. Sure enough just off to the right of a small forest, at the base of the mountains, something was glinting brightly as the sun caught it.

"Hold on, there's nothing artificial in that area, it's all just forests and plains."

"Think something's there?" Raijin asked, sidling over.

"Yeah... I think there just might." Seifer was grinning.

"GO?"

"I think so. Let's get moving."

"This is Rinoa calling Squall. Come in. Repeat this is Rinoa calling Squall. Are you there?"

Squall pulled out the communicator and spoke into it. "This is Squall. What's the problem?"

Rinoa's hand twisted at a rogue strand of black hair. "Selphie and Irvine. They said they'd be back in sixty minutes and if they weren't, then I should radio you to tell you, so I did."

__

Damn, this day just gets worse and worse.

"Okay. We're done with the last sweep. While we head back, call Garden and request that they send some soldiers through to continue the search."

"Acknowledged, Squall." There was a click as she cut the communications link.

"Right, guys. Let's head back."

Zell smashed his fist into his open palm in frustration, but said nothing. Quistis merely started to walk in the direction of the Ragnarok.

When Selphie awoke, she went to rub the sleep from her eyes. Her hands felt unusually heavy. She kept her eyes closed instead. Her head was thumping a steady rhythm of pain.

__

Ouch. She thought groggily. _What happened. One glass of wine too many? No, hang on. Oh Hyne, I remember now. We were on a mission... we spotted Galbadians... and... We got caught and knocked out. Nuts._

Her eyes opened wide, and she looked at her hand, which she now realised was shackled to a cold, black metal wall, low enough so she could sit down and with chains long enough that she could use her arms freely but not escape. Harsh strip lighting illuminated a room, which was all too familiar. _Oh, balls. I'm never in the D-District Prison again!_ _Wait. Where's Irvine? Ooh, my head._

Selphie experimentally pulled away from the wall. No such luck as for her to be bound with rusty and weakened shackles. She was beginning to panic. _Where's Irvine? He must be close..._

"Irvine!" She called. There was no answer. _Oh, Hyne, what if something happened to him? What if he tried to put up a fight? That's just the sort of thing he'd do... What if they're torturing him for info like they did to Squall? What if, what if..._

A tear rolled down her cheek.

There was a light scraping from outside the heavy door for a second, and it slid open to reveal a squat but lean lion-like creature holding a tray. "Laguna!" It said.

It padded over and put the food down in front of Selphie. Then it regarded her critically, sniffed at her once or twice, let out a large squeaky growl/purr and jumped up and down, clapping it's massive paws together. "Laguna! Laguna, laguna, laguna!"

"Hmm?" Selphie looked the Moomba over quizzically and then it dawned on her. "Have we met?" The moomba nodded furiously, its orange spiky mane flying every which way.

"Here?" Again the evolved Shumi made with the furious nods.

"Hey..." Said Selphie. "...Have you seen a guy with a brown pony-tail and a trenchcoat?"

The moomba stuck a clawed thumb upwards.

"Is he okay?"

This time the thumb went down, accompanied by a small whimper.

"Oh, Hyne... Is he alive?"

Nod.

"But in bad shape, right?"

Nod, nod.

"Will he be okay, do you think?"

A pause, then a thumbs up.

"Could you please take care of him?"

Nod.

The moomba took a cautious look outside the door, and went to look at Selphie's chains. Selphie watched it. She had no doubt that it would be able to break those chains. She'd read about moombas. They were apparently extremely strong, but so docile that they weren't enough of a danger to humans to be classified as a monster. The same applied for chocobos. They were so tough that monsters wouldn't dream of attacking them, so that made them the safest land transport around.

The moomba apparently had found an ideal weak spot in the chain and had just raised its paw to deliver a chop to it, when Selphie hissed "Stop!"

"Laguna?"

"Don't free me. Squall and the others will be along soon to rescue me and Irvine soon, so don't get in trouble for no reason, okay?"

"Laguna..."

"Trust me. Just come back to visit now and again, okay?"

"La... Laguna!" It hopped away from the chains, scampered out of the door and with a final wave, slid the door shut again.

Selphie smiled to herself. _Squall will come and save us... won't he?_


End file.
